My journey with storytelling began in school, with a simple belief: everyone has a story worth telling.
I founded the Rising Writers Club, bringing together students who loved to write, read, and share stories. What began as a small group grew into a community where we wrote together, taught one another and met regularly to write and share stories.
Building a stage for storytellers
We later organized a state-level storytelling event supporting the Save Girl Child, Educate Girl Child initiative, bringing together young storytellers around a cause beyond the classroom. The event was recognized and appreciated by the Education Minister and the Chief Minister of Gujarat State.
From stories on paper to stories in print
The club grew beyond our meetings. We wrote and published books together, created spaces for young writers to find their voice, and I began teaching storytelling and creative writing to other students. We made a national record of 'Most books published in a day written by children'. Here are some glimpses of the books we wrote.
Editor of Creative Square Magazine
I later founded an RNI-registered children's magazine, created by children, for children, giving young writers a place to see their words in print. Reading stories written by kids from all over the country gave me so much joy and hope.
In medical school...
In medical school, storytelling found a different audience: my patients. I created a small space where patients who were interested came together for small storytelling sessions.
Some shared difficult experiences. Others spoke about everyday life with illness, the changes it had brought, and the things they had learned along the way. What stayed with me most was how powerful it felt for them to be heard. Their stories reminded me that medicine records what happens to a patient; storytelling lets us understand what it feels like to live through it.
This was my inspiration for The 25th Hour Project
A documentary about the people behind the pandemic.
COVID-19 hit my country like a storm. I wanted to create something that would capture more than the headlines and statistics. I wanted to preserve the voices of the frontline workers. Hence I created a short-film documentary Triage: A war without weapons, capturing the experiences, uncertainty, and resilience of the frontline workers.
We launched the shortfilm at the House of Lords, Parliament of United Kingdom, giving the project an opportunity to reach an international audience and bring the voices captured during the pandemic to a wider platform.
